[...]
also your reviews you posted for the nook eink are outdated. when it was originally launced it was no secret is was rushed to market and had its share of bugs etc. but it went through a series of update to not only iron out the bugs but to add some extra features. So it would be best to have the most updated reviews to reflect the device that is out today. The nook eink is not the same device now compared to the one that was at launch

here is a review from Cnet who David Carnoy (an avid reader) kept a watchful eye on the nook and has updated his reviews to reflect the improvements. here is a quote from that review

Editors' note: This review has been updated extensively to account for changes in the Nook's features and performance resulting from firmware upgrades on April 23, 2010, and November 22, 2010, as well as the availability of the third-generation Kindle and the Nook Color. Note that user reviews prior to April 23 and November 22 reflect the earlier respective versions of the firmware.

Hi John F, thanks for the suggestions. Help me understand a bit better... I've added a factor for the number of font sizes that come with the ereader. Are you suggesting a factor for each of the other items you mention, or an aggregate factor on "reading options", or maybe some pros and cons to add to the "reading experience" factor? When and in what ways would these controls matter to you, and what values would like to see (or not see) for each item?

Thank you.

I don't know what I want.

As an example, if I had to go with "Best, Very Good, ..." only, I would give the iPad/Stanza Best, a Nook Color Good, and all the others Fair. Please note that I haven't used that many devices.

For me, this is one of the top things on my list when I go shopping for a reader, and it is hard to quantify.

A few points, and yes I'm going to be defending devices I own, so take it for what it's worth.

1) The Nook Color does have an active developer community, in fact it has several. Both at Nookdevs and at XDA-developers. They've even got Android Honeycomb to run on it.
2) If you take a look at a high PPI LCD display you'll see the text is actually crisper than on EInk. My Motorola Droid has noticeably sharper text than either my Nook Color or my Sony 505 with Vizplex - largely because it has 266 PPI while the other two are both in the 160-170 PPI range. However, even at the same PPI density, LCD is usually crisper. It doesn't have the power advantages, and is backlit, but it can be very good for reading text - just not good for all users to look at for long periods.

I think some things are just too subjective. For example, with respect to reading experience, a large screen automatically gets rated as a better reading experience over a comparable smaller screen. This ignores the fact, that some people find it easier to read for long periods on the smaller lighter device.

It might be simply better if you rated things by screen sizes, screen technology, etc.

A few points, and yes I'm going to be defending devices I own, so take it for what it's worth.

1) The Nook Color does have an active developer community, in fact it has several. Both at Nookdevs and at XDA-developers. They've even got Android Honeycomb to run on it.

I have the NOOKcolor placed in the middle of the pack for the apps and games factor currently. Thanks for pointing out the dev communities. I hope I'm not offending them by saying that the NOOKcolor "lacks substantial developer community," but I think that relative to the iOS and Android development scenes, it's much smaller. Right now, the NOOKcolor is placed higher than the Kindles (which also have active commercial developers) but lower than the Android ereaders (and much lower than the iPad ereaders). For the common user who's not up for installing a new OS or other such fun technical stuff, I think this is a proper placement. Tech guys will dig deeper, not need an app store, and know intrinsically that they're beyond using this factor in their decision. Also, when NOOK Extras Marketplace launches, I suspect that I'll be moving the NOOKcolor up a bit.

I mean, it pretty subjective... Some will find e-ink providing them a better experience, others will like lcd better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lemurion

2) If you take a look at a high PPI LCD display you'll see the text is actually crisper than on EInk. My Motorola Droid has noticeably sharper text than either my Nook Color or my Sony 505 with Vizplex - largely because it has 266 PPI while the other two are both in the 160-170 PPI range. However, even at the same PPI density, LCD is usually crisper. It doesn't have the power advantages, and is backlit, but it can be very good for reading text - just not good for all users to look at for long periods.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I think some things are just too subjective. For example, with respect to reading experience, a large screen automatically gets rated as a better reading experience over a comparable smaller screen. This ignores the fact, that some people find it easier to read for long periods on the smaller lighter device.

It might be simply better if you rated things by screen sizes, screen technology, etc.

On the one hand, I'd like to help those most in need of assistence in deciding which ereader to buy, and newcomers will not be well served by too much cold objectivity and no subjective guidance. Product finders that list a plethora of hard, cold product stats don't cut it when we're totally new to an area -- we don't know what we want. A well-reasoned, editorial stance, subjectivity and all, is needed and appreciated to focus the search.

On the other hand, most subjective aspects have valid counter arguments. As soon as a HowToDecide™ Quick Decide Guide™ takes a position that's disputable (and most positions beyond physical facts are disputable), there will be a contingent of users who do not agree with the position.

In the long term, I have in mind additional mechanisms for expressing subjective aspects in Quick Decide Guides™. They will help guide those who believe or trust or just wish to explore, and they will be ignorable by those who do not.

In the meantime, here's as close as I can think to get: I'll leave reading experience factor there for now, but I'll also add further objective factors such as weight and screen technology as independent factors. Any given factor can be used or ignored by users per their preference. Hopefully this will suffice until the new mechanisms are completed.

I have the NOOKcolor placed in the middle of the pack for the apps and games factor currently. Thanks for pointing out the dev communities. I hope I'm not offending them by saying that the NOOKcolor "lacks substantial developer community," but I think that relative to the iOS and Android development scenes, it's much smaller. Right now, the NOOKcolor is placed higher than the Kindles (which also have active commercial developers) but lower than the Android ereaders (and much lower than the iPad ereaders). For the common user who's not up for installing a new OS or other such fun technical stuff, I think this is a proper placement. Tech guys will dig deeper, not need an app store, and know intrinsically that they're beyond using this factor in their decision. Also, when NOOK Extras Marketplace launches, I suspect that I'll be moving the NOOKcolor up a bit.

I'm not sure why you're separating the Nook Color community out from other Android devices. All the major Android development sites I've seen have a Nook Color section in the same way they have a section for any other Android device.

I'm not sure why you're separating the Nook Color community out from other Android devices. All the major Android development sites I've seen have a Nook Color section in the same way they have a section for any other Android device.

Hmm, that may be a mistake on my part. Without NOOK Extras Marketplace, is it still as easy to find and install apps as it is for the Android ereaders that I'm covering so far (Velocity Micro Cruz R101 and PocketBook IQ 701)?

However the tablet runs Barnes and Noble’s proprietary UI over Android and doesn’t allow you to install apps. For those who want more functionality, rooting the device and installing additional Android apps has been a difficult task frought with the risk of ruining your otherwise functional eReader.

If this is not true, please let me know. If it is true, that's what I was thinking when I listed the NOOKcolor below the other Android ereaders with regard to apps.

Hmm, that may be a mistake on my part. Without NOOK Extras Marketplace, is it still as easy to find and install apps as it is for the Android ereaders that I'm covering so far (Velocity Micro Cruz R101 and PocketBook IQ 701)?

If this is not true, please let me know. If it is true, that's what I was thinking when I listed the NOOKcolor below the other Android ereaders with regard to apps.

No, that is very inaccurate I don't even know where he got this info from, I've never heard of such comments.

Because the nook books off of the SD Micro Card by default it makes bricking the nook virtually impossible. Also developers have created bootable images that auto root your device. It's called autonooter and the process is very easy to do. The hardest part is making a bootable images, and those instructions are in detail.

The nook has proven to be a viable tablet and as such has gotten developers from the market to make updates to their apps to play nice with the nook.

No, that is very inaccurate I don't even know where he got this info from, I've never heard of such comments.

Because the nook books off of the SD Micro Card by default it makes bricking the nook virtually impossible. Also developers have created bootable images that auto root your device. It's called autonooter and the process is very easy to do. The hardest part is making a bootable images, and those instructions are in detail.

The nook has proven to be a viable tablet and as such has gotten developers from the market to make updates to their apps to play nice with the nook.

Great idea! I love watching the results pop up as I make or change choices.

Love my eReaders: I have a Sony PRS-900 (Daily Edition, but not as nice as the 950 with its pearl e-ink) and an Entourage Pocket Edge (which is an interesting device I'm still exploring).

I agree with The_Terminator that Kobo needs to be on your list, and I think it might be important to distinguish between iterations of Sonys. Also, I would love to see the Entourage Edges in your comparison! They have 2 screens, one e-ink (Vizplex) and one LCD (Linux/Android), which work together for a pretty amazing reading experience.